Mar 4, 2009 1:39 pm US/Eastern
Barking Pit Bull Alerts B'klyn Residents Of Fire
Family Dog Barks Until All Residents Of Lafayette Avenue Brownstone Escaped Flames From Manhole Fire
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
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Ace, a pit bull-shepherd mix is being hailed a hero Wednesday morning as a manhole fire forced more than a dozen residents to evacuate a Brooklyn brownstone. Ace's barking alerted tenants to escape the flames.
CBS
What a frigid morning to be forced out in the cold. Eight families; 23 adults and 4 children were out in the street on Wednesday morning after an early morning fire in a row of brownstones on Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn.
The fire started within a manhole that was clogged with salt and melting snow.
But it was beloved family pet that is being hailed a hero.
It was the barking from Ace, the pit bull-shepherd mix who saved the lives of his owner's family. Khaliq Shariff said it was his dog's barking that woke up his entire family. They were able to escape the flames from the early morning fire on Lafayette Avenue.
"I was asleep. He wouldn't stop barking. I usually know it's nothing serious when he barks, but this time he wouldn't stop," Shariff told CBS 2 HD.
It's the second fire to start within a manhole in the last 24 hours. Earlier on Wednesday, flames shot out of a manhole on 38th Avenue in Corona, Queens. Huge clouds of smoke forced 30 people out of their homes. Fire officials say manhole fires can be blamed on all the snow from Monday's storm.
"What happens is the snow starts to melt and that along with the salts that are put down by the Department of Sanitation attacks the wires and sets them on fire," said Battalion Chief Gene Marmann.
Con Ed crews were busy repairing the damaged underground wires.
Red Cross was also on the scene investigating. They will provide displaced tenants with temporary housing.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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